Arthur George Hammond

Held a hilltop and carried a wounded soldier out under fire.

Arthur George Hammond was born at Dawlish on 28 September 1843 and educated at Sherborne and Addiscombe. He entered the army and subsequently served with the Bengal Staff Corps and the Corps of Guides in India.

On 14 December 1879, during fighting on the Asmai Heights near Kabul, Captain Hammond defended the hilltop with a rifle and fixed bayonet while the 72nd Highlanders and Guides withdrew. During the retreat he stopped to help carry a wounded sepoy away, although the enemy were within sixty yards and firing heavily. He received the Victoria Cross for his conduct.

Hammond later held brigade commands in the Chitral and Tirah campaigns. His highest supported appointment was temporary brigadier-general, while his substantive rank was colonel. His service earned the Distinguished Service Order and advancement to Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath in 1903. He died at Camberley on 20 April 1919.

Official Victoria Cross citation:

For conspicuous coolness and gallantry at the action on the Asmai Heights, near Kabul, on the 14th December, 1879, in defending the top of the hill with a rifle and fixed bayonet, against large numbers of the enemy, while the 72nd Highlanders and Guides were retiring; and again, on the retreat down the hill, in stopping to assist in carrying away a wounded Sepoy, the enemy being not sixty yards off, firing heavily all the time.